How to Write a Dian Yi White Envelope for a Taiwanese Funeral

The Envelope Is the Message

At a Taiwanese funeral, the white condolence envelope you hand to the guest register attendant is not just a payment vessel. The way you inscribe it — the header phrase, your name placement, the amount inside — communicates your relationship to the deceased, your understanding of the family's religious tradition, and your familiarity with funeral protocol. A correctly written envelope goes into the ledger without comment. A poorly written one gets quietly noted.

Choosing the Right Header Phrase

The header (feng mian ci, the large characters written at the top center of the envelope's front) depends on the religion or tradition of the funeral:

奠儀 (diàn yí) — the most common and universally safe header. It translates roughly to "memorial offering" and works for Buddhist, Taoist, folk religion, and secular funerals. If you're unsure which tradition the family follows, use 奠儀.

香奠 (xiāng diàn) — "incense offering." Appropriate for Buddhist and Taoist funerals where incense plays a central liturgical role. Slightly more traditional than 奠儀 but equally accepted.

輓儀 (wǎn yí) — a more formal, literary term for condolence offering. Less commonly used in everyday practice but perfectly correct. Sometimes seen at military or state funerals.

For Christian funerals: the family may prefer 慰儀 (wèi yí), meaning "comfort offering," which avoids the incense and altar associations of the Buddhist/Taoist terms. When in doubt, 奠儀 is still accepted at Christian funerals — it carries no specifically non-Christian connotation.

Writing Your Name

Your full name goes on the lower left of the envelope's front, below the header. The conventions:

• One person attending: Your full name, written vertically in a single column.
• A married couple attending together: The husband's name on the right, the wife's name on the left, both in vertical columns. Some families write only the husband's name with 伉儷 (kǎng lì, "and spouse") appended — acceptable but old-fashioned.
• Attending on behalf of a company: The company name on the far right column, then the representative's name and title on the next column to the left.
• A group of friends pooling money into one envelope: Write 同仁 (tóng rén, "colleagues") or 同學 (tóng xué, "classmates") at the top, with individual names listed in columns below, the most senior person on the right.

Use a black or dark blue pen — never red (red ink on a white funeral envelope associates the offering with celebratory events) and never pencil (interpreted as impermanence or lack of seriousness).

The Amount Rules

The cash goes inside the envelope in New Taiwan Dollar bills. The rules:

Must be an odd number. NT$1,100, NT$1,300, NT$1,500, NT$2,100, NT$3,100. Even numbers (NT$1,000, NT$2,000) are for weddings and birthdays — even numbers at a funeral symbolize paired misfortune. The most commonly seen amounts for non-family guests are NT$1,100 and NT$2,100.

No coins. Bills only. Coins jingling in the envelope are considered undignified.

New bills preferred but not strictly required (unlike red envelope hongbao, where new bills are mandatory).

The amount is NOT written on the outside of the envelope in most Taiwanese practice. The guest register attendant opens the envelope, counts the bills, records the amount next to your name in the condolence ledger, and returns the empty envelope to a collection basket. Some families do write the amount on the inner flap as a courtesy to the register attendant — this is a minor regional variation, not a rule.

When to Present the Envelope

The white envelope is given at the memorial ceremony — either at the reception table when you arrive (most common) or directly to a designated family member during the public memorial (gong ji) portion.

Never mail it after the funeral. Condolence money presented after the ceremony carries the symbolic weight of "arriving too late" — the offering missed the moment it was meant for. If you cannot attend in person, give the envelope to someone who is attending and ask them to present it on your behalf. The register attendant will record both your name and the intermediary's name.

Never present the envelope before the funeral to the bereaved family directly unless you have a close enough relationship to visit during the vigil period. Premature delivery can be interpreted as assuming the death before it was formally announced, which in folk logic risks hastening another death.

Flower Wreaths as an Alternative

For guests who are not close enough to give a cash envelope — or for business contacts and organizations sending a corporate condolence — a flower wreath (huā quān) is the alternative. Funeral flower wreaths in Taiwan are ordered from florists who specialize in mourning arrangements: white chrysanthemums, white lilies, and white orchids are standard; yellow chrysanthemums are acceptable.

The wreath includes a banner with the giver's name and a condolence phrase (typically 哀悼 āi dào, "in mourning" or 沉痛哀悼 chén tòng āi dào, "with deep sorrow"). The florist handles the inscription — just provide your name and the funeral venue address. Wreaths are typically delivered directly to the mourning hall on the morning of the memorial ceremony.

Wreath prices vary by size, flowers, delivery, and venue; ask the florist for a quote. Like cash envelopes, wreaths are logged by the guest register attendant and recorded in the condolence ledger.

What the Family Does With the Money

The condolence ledger serves a practical purpose: the family keeps it permanently and uses it to calculate reciprocal obligations. When a death occurs in your family in the future, the deceased's family is expected to return a condolence envelope of equivalent or slightly greater value. This reciprocal ledger system extends across decades and is one of the reasons amount precision matters — the number goes into a permanent family record.

The Taiwan Funeral Planning Guide includes envelope templates and quick-reference cards for both givers and hosts, so neither side gets caught by the formatting conventions during the ceremony.